Washington (CNN) - A group of conservative evangelical leaders broke with their political brethren Wednesday, coming to Washington to push the White House and congressional leaders to pass comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path for undocumented immigrants to attain legal status.

Political conservatives have long balked at an immigration policy that includes what they term "amnesty" for illegal immigrants, but the evangelicals see the issue differently.

"A significant part of our churches and denominations are part of the immigrant community so we have a very close connection and a very great interest," Leith Anderson, president of the influential lobbying group National Evangelical Association, said Wednesday, " ... but our interest is really rooted in what the bible teaches how we treat people and how we treat particularly people who are aliens or strangers in the land."

Anderson's group last year authored a resolution in favor of reform using biblical immigrants Abraham, Joseph, Naomi, Mary and Jesus. Their examples, the group said, "reveal God's hand in the movement of people and are illustrations of faith and God in difficult circumstances."

soundoff(26 Responses)

Todd Schmidt

Oh yes justify your psuedo- slavery by saying we need these people in here to get paid $3.00 an hours, abused, no medical care. OOOOOOH yes you are such good humanitarians, that you justify illegals because" nobody will work for that wage" (except you will let the illegals do that) Such good and honorable people you are. Everybody has immigration laws, everybody has a process, not everybody that wants to get in gets in. Try temporary permits and make them get a decent salary with at least medical care. Hmmmmmm. Disgusting misplaced humanitarism. Of course the pass word is "vote democrat"